Distance - 5 Miles
Geocaches - 1
Walk Inspiration - Pub Walks in Herefordshire - Walk 4
A first walk from this 1994 Guide Book.
Wonder if the Bell Inn is still there |
Route 4 is of interest, as it details not one but two pubs. One definitely closed, one even Google/Whatpub cannot provide a comprehensive answer as to its trading status.
The potential live one - the Seven Stars - is the start and parking point. If I have got internet based research wrong, I am trespassing on a private drive.
Open or Closed - I'll find out later |
Footpaths are better preserved than our pubs - everything is present and correct 28 years later. An initial traverse of sheep grazing fields along Cage Brook, to the mighty Wye at Ruckhall. I return across increasingly waterlogged paths over Honeymoor Common and back along the brook.
The Ancient Camp is hard to pin down on the map but the guide book describes it having magnificent views over the River Wye. Details include it being a freehouse for more than 150 years. A commitment to providing good ale, with Wood Parish Bitter and West County PA on draught.
Magnificent enough view? I must be close. |
I completed my research before hand. A BBC news article from 2003 talked about a locals campaign to preserve the village's only pub.
A 2010 blogpost detailed a last gasp attempt to save it, and discussed the much maligned tactic of being denied planning permission to convert it into a house and then putting it on the market at an inflated price as a business. It would appear that this was when the battle was lost, with the blogpost stating that CAMRA were philosophical about the outcome.
But am I in the right place at my Wye Valley lookout? A scramble up a bank and a look over a low fence reveals the following.
Not every one goes out at midday.
ReplyDeletePerhaps you need to visit later in the afternoon.
Did you request food ?
The Wye valley gets regularly poured.
So perhaps another visit.
Would be wise